Utah will head into the Pac-12 Tournament next week on a two-game losing streak, but that doesn’t tell the whole story.
The primary storyline from the Utes’ heartbreaking 66-65 loss at Oregon on Saturday — one in which Ben Carlson missed a 3-point attempt from the corner as time expired — was that Branden Carlson left with an injury early in the second half at Matthew Knight Arena, one that could impact the final chapter of the fifth-year senior’s collegiate career.
“You never want to lose and and there’s no such thing as moral victories, but I thought we did a lot of things well tonight to give ourselves a chance to win this game,” Utah coach Craig Smith said.
Just under three minutes into the second half, Branden Carlson got tangled up with Oregon center N’Faly Dante as they were battling for position, and from replays, it appeared that Dante held onto Carlson’s arm as he pulled away, possibly hyperextending Carlson’s left elbow.
Carlson fell to the floor in pain and was helped to the locker room a couple minutes later. He returned to the team’s bench with ice wrapped around his left elbow a short time later but never went back in the game.
After a lengthy review in which the officials took a second look at the play on the monitors, they deemed it inadvertent contact and no foul.
“I haven’t seen the video. They just said it was both guys were being physical and and it’s just a basketball play is what I was told, so I haven’t seen the video,” Smith said.
Following the game, Smith didn’t have an update on Carlson’s injury.
“Obviously you know, got to talk to our athletic trainer and then see what the next step is, if he has to go in and see the doctor when we get back, or what have you,” Utah’s coach said.
When Carlson left the game, Utah held a 45-40 lead. In his 22 minutes, Carlson scored 19 points and made three 3-pointers while adding five rebounds and a block just two nights after scoring a career-high 40 points in a loss at Oregon State.
With Carlson’s absence, the Ducks owned the paint in the second half — Smith also credited Jermaine Couisnard’s ability to attack the rim as another determining factor — and retook the lead as they scored 26 of their 36 points in the paint after halftime.
The Ducks also finished with a 12-7 edge in second-chance points.
Dante, seemingly reinvigorated after just five points in the first half, scored 14 in the second half. That included eight in a 10-0 run that saw Oregon go from five down to five up with 8:35 to play.
“(Dante) leads this league in field goal percentage and when he did get post touches, I thought double (teams) were very good tonight. We were on point with those doubles and I thought got him off attack, but it was more off pick and roll and offensive rebounding,” Smith said, talking about Oregon’s increased paint production in the second half.
Utah, even while enduring a 6 ½-minute stretch without a field goal, didn’t flinch and stayed within striking distance thanks to some timely 3-point shots from Hunter Erickson and Gabe Madsen and an increased intensity on defense.
Oregon’s final points came with just over four minutes remaining on a Couisnard free throw, and Utah held the Ducks scoreless on their final five possessions.
Utah climbed with one point on a pair of Deivon Smith free throws with 38.2 seconds to play, and after Couisnard missed a layup with 11 seconds left, the Utes had a chance.
Madsen rebounded the miss and passed it to Deivon Smith, who drove quickly upcourt, then handed it back to Madsen around the 3-point line.
Madsen drove the paint and found Ben Carlson open in the corner for 3, but the shot hit off the back rim and bounced out.
“I’ve always been a big fan of we go, we get that rebound and the defense is in transition, or in conversion, and it’s easy to kind of have a breakdown and hug your man,” Craig Smith said about the final play.
“But if you feel like they have it solved and we have nothing then of course we use our last time out. Deivon was able to kind of get downhill get two feet in the paint, kicks it out to Gabe. Hindsight is always 20/20.”
Utah’s coach thought Madsen, who showed the willingness several times on the night to take a big shot, might drive and keep the last shot in his hands. Instead, he found the open man in Ben Carlson.
“He did have a wide open look and honestly when he shot it, I thought he made it. As you saw, it looked good and in rhythm, and it was a back half miss,” Craig Smith said.
“Those are always ones you grapple with a little bit, but I felt good about it especially when we got that rebound and we took off. But it didn’t go in and so that’s how it goes sometimes.”
Time and again, Utah fought its way back at a venue where the Utes won just once during their time in the Pac-12, and it won’t happen again with both Utah and Oregon heading to different conferences next year.
The Ducks made their first five shots from the field and led 15-5 just four minutes into the game, but Branden Carlson led a spirited comeback for the Utes that ended with Utah leading by as many as seven in the first half before taking a 37-32 lead into the break.
Utah shot 50% in the first half but just 32.1% in the second half, while Oregon overcame a 34.5% shooting effort in the first half to shoot 48.4% in the final 20 minutes.
The Ducks also hit 12 of 19 free throws, while Utah made 9 of 12 in a game where several Utes were in early foul trouble in the first half.
Turnovers were costly as well — Utah’s 14 turnovers led to 13 Ducks points, while Oregon’s 11 led to eight Utes points, a key metric in a closely contested contest.
“Today I thought we were kind of loose in transition, meaning a lot of our turnovers were in transition and a little bit unforced, even early in the second half, specifically when BC got hurt,” Craig Smith said.
One advantage that helped keep Utah in it, though, was 3-point shooting: The Utes made 10 of 26, while holding Oregon to 4 of 20.
Dante’s 19 points and 12 rebounds paced the Ducks, while Couisnard added 14 and Jackson Shelstad 12.
In addition to the team-high 19 points from Branden Carlson, Utah also got 14 points and four 3-pointers from Madsen, while Deivon Smith put up 15 points, six rebounds and three assists.
It was a second straight loss for Utah to close out the regular season ahead of next week’s Pac-12 tournament, but it was an effort Craig Smith praised.
“We showed a lot of resiliency and connectivity all night long in a tough environment, and obviously their senior night, great crowd, difficult place to play, and we gave ourselves a chance to win this game. We had overcome a lot of different things tonight,” Craig Smith said.
“I’m really, really proud of our effort and our tenacity, how we competed, how we communicated, the way we guarded.”